Why We Can Have Faith in the Biblical Epic ‘Samson’

Faith-friendly movies have made a bit of comeback in recent years despite Hollywood’s increasingly leftist bent.

The scope of modern religious stories, unfortunately, can often be limited — due to smaller budgets and little support from major studios.

And when Hollywood studios do support faith content, they tend to sanitize it, strip it and secularize it — resulting in duds like “Noah” and “Exodus: Gods and Kings”

Some producers, however, will not let limited budgets or a lack of support from mainstream Hollywood hold back their storytelling. The storytelling potential within the pages of the Bible is simply too tempting for them.

This year’s “Samson” is an example of an epic film taken straight from the Bible.

The story of Samson, a great warrior stripped of his powers and given a chance for revenge by God, is first told in the Book of Judges. Over the years, many people have shared their spin on the story (including Cecil B. DeMille) — but no one had the advantage of modern technology until now.

Despite a limited budget, “Samson” is a huge film full to the brim with impressive battle scenes and committed performances, including one from lead actor Taylor James.

“My mind ran away with the absolute potential of how this film needs to be told in this modern age,” James told LifeZette in an exclusive interview about how he felt after researching the story of Samson and reading the script.

The film also attracted big-name stars like Rutger Hauer, Lindsay Wagner and Billy Zane.

“I think it’s a story that can be told many times because it has a lot of elements in it,” Hauer told LifeZette in an interview. “This is sort of like the history of where we came from, in a way.”

This modern version, he added, is like nothing that came before it, as co-director Bruce MacDonald embraced the action elements to the story.

“He [co-director MacDonald] sort of shot it like an action film, I felt. Every scene is really compacted [and] short, so you can understand it. It has a drive … You kind of run through it,” the “Blade Runner” star said.

After a run in theaters, “Samson” has now hit home video and streaming platforms, so it can be enjoyed by many more viewers.

LifeZette was given a first look at the film — and it’s the story of Samson told right. There is never a dull moment, and the actors give their all to this story of love, betrayal, revenge, and enduring faith.

There’s plenty of faith-friendly content to choose from for audiences these days: “I Can Only Imagine,” “God’s Not Dead: A Light in the Darkness,” “Paul, Apostle of Christ,” “Forever My Girl,” and “Miracle Season” all came out this year already. But there aren’t many truly modern epic depictions of biblical stories like “Samson.”

It’s a film worth supporting, if only to send Hollywood the message that these stories are worth investing in and telling the right way.

Click here for more about “Samson” from Pureflix.

PopZette editor Zachary Leeman can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter.